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VA SPOTLIGHT

Brett Valette, PhD

UPDATED...April 2017

This is a series of stories

bringing light to the dark side of the

VA’s treatment of some Veterans

applying for disability. Whether out

of frustration, desperation, anger, or

‘just to make it right” they contacted me, and together, we fought the injustice.

These are actual cases and claims.

I have changed names and identifying

information for confidentiality reasons.

Spotlight March 2017

This is the first in a series of stories bringing

light to the dark side of the VA’s treatment

of some Veterans applying for disability.

Spotlight April 2017

Claim Killer DBQ Questions.
VA Spotlight is a series of stories bringing

light to the dark side of the VA’s treatment

of some Veterans applying for disability.

Whether out of frustration, desperation,

anger, or ‘just to makeit right” they contacted

me, and together, we fought the injustice.

Click Here To Contact Dr. Valette

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Drew Early, Veterans Law Attorney

Hey Jim,

VA Begins Update of Disability Ratings

The existing VA rating tables date back to 1949 and are in need of being brought up to date, to reflect both changes in levels of impairment and new or different conditions of disease. The 1949 tables revolved around the physical impacts of disability on a primarily manual labor-based workforce (largely male in nature). Much has changed since then.
Informal discussions about the need to update the existing tables have gone on for some time. About 2015 or so, VA began a formal effort to refine those tables. You can now go to the Federal Register and begin to see some of the changes that are being proposed. These changes are being done on the basis of related medical systems: Cardio, pulmonary, etc. . Current proposed tables are available for notice and comment on the Federal Register for Dental and Oral conditions and for the Genitourinary system.
If you maintain a disability rating, it is in your best interests to monitor these efforts and see if any change might impact you. Second, this is a great opportunity to advise VA if you think a particular rating doesn’t adequately reflect true levels of impairment. For example, in my view, the Feet and Knee tables are unduly low, particularly for higher levels of impairment. If you think that’s the case for those or other conditions, let VA know, especially for proposed tables now posted on the Federal Register.